Dreadful Fun
by Gamma Orionis
Summary: Rodolphus Lestrange is perfectly happy with his marriage, playing to his wife's whims and enjoying the role he takes in their relationship. Bellatrix, on the other hand, seems to be taking a little too much interest in the Dark Lord. Written for the bdsm-fandom BDSM Big Bang on LiveJournal. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Dreadful Fun  
**Pairing**: Bellatrix/Rodolphus  
**Rating**: NC-17  
**Summary**: Rodolphus Lestrange is perfectly happy with his marriage, playing to his wife's whims and enjoying the role he takes in their relationship. Bellatrix, on the other hand, seems to be taking a little too much interest in the Dark Lord. Written for the bdsm_fandom BDSM Big Bang on LiveJournal.  
**Art**: imera**DOT**livejournal**DOT**com/12244**DOT**html by imera, who did an absolutely amazing job of illustrating a scene from the story  
**Warnings (for the whole story)**: BDSM (obviously). Sexual content, fem!domme/male!sub, one scene of male!dom/fem!sub, bondage, first time, oral, pain, dirty talk, hair pulling, orgasm control/denial, public sex acts, role-playing, ambiguous infidelity... and probably other kinks that I've forgotten.

* * *

_Chapter One_

)O(

Rodolphus could not have taken his eyes off his wife if he had wanted to.

He was a lucky man, he thought, to have been blessed with such a beautiful bride. When his and Bellatrix's betrothal had first been arranged, when they were still young, he had been wary, displeased at the idea of spending his life with a girl who had seemed so… _unpleasant_at that age. Bellatrix had been the sort of teenage girl who professors dreaded, who parents warned their daughters not to grow up to be like, and who boys, even those boys who found her attractive, knew better than to engage with.

That had been his opinion for all the time that he had known her during Hogwarts, and when, two years after they had finished school, he had been all but marched into the chapel for their wedding and seen Bellatrix again, he had been nothing short of shocked at the change that had come over her.

She was, for what he imagined was the first time in her life, smiling. Not smirking, not sneering, not wearing the false little simper that she had been apt to use when her parents were watching, but genuinely smiling, and at _him_, no less. Rodolphus had never experienced anything so close to _affection_from Bellatrix before.

The ceremony had gone rather wonderfully, but it had been the wedding night that cemented in his mind the fact that he was going to _very much_enjoy being married to Bellatrix.

They were sent off with showers of smothering kisses and well-wishing and all the usual words that one would expect a bride and groom to hear on their wedding day, and then, at last, they managed to struggle out of the crowd and Bellatrix took Rodolphus's arm and the two of them Disapparated.

They were staying in one of the villas that the Black family owned, out in Italy, and no sooner had their feet hit the ground there than Bellatrix grabbed onto Rodolphus and pulled him around to look her straight in the eye.

"Right," she said. "Now that we're married _properly_, I think there are a few things we ought to make clear."

"Oh, _are there_?" Rodolphus was not used to being spoken to so imperiously, so much as though Bellatrix had him in her power instead of the other way around. "And precisely what do you want to make clear?"

"That I don't… _do_… the usual Pureblood wife bit," Bellatrix told him. "I don't cook or clean or serve your every need… and I'm not submissive."

"Pardon me?"

Bellatrix tilted her head and arched one eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'pardon me'? Don't you know…?"

Rodolphus shifted a little, feeling a bit stupid and not daring to actually answer her question. She snorted, running one hand through her hair, then rolled her eyes at him. "Right… let me… _demonstrate_, then."

Rodolphus opened his mouth, but the only thing that came out was a gasp as Bellatrix threw him down onto the couch, and then she was on top of him, gripping him by the front of his shirt and glaring straight into his eyes.

"If you'd married someone like Narcissa," she breathed, "you'd be the one doing this to her. You'd be the one pushing her down onto the bed like a bloody romance novel hero… well, you aren't going to be doing that with me."

"Bellatrix, _what–_"

"But I promise," she interrupted, her voice suddenly going candy sweet, "that what I'm going to do with you is going to be much… _much_more fun…" She dragged the tip of one finger down his chest, her nail scratching him lightly through his shirt.

"What are you going to do with me?" Rodolphus asked, more than a touch warily. He wasn't sure how to react to Bellatrix behaving in this way – it was quite frankly frightening and he felt the urge to cringe away at the same time that he found the whole thing delightfully exciting...

"Come upstairs with me and I'll show you," Bellatrix told him in a low, sensual purr.

Rodolphus nodded. She took him by his wrist and dragged him upstairs and he followed behind, slightly wary but more intrigued.

She flung the door of one of the villa's bedrooms open and shoved him inside and he stumbled a bit, trying to catch his balance. He grabbed onto the bedposts for support, but Bellatrix was stronger than he had expected her to be and she had him pinned down almost instantly.

She straddled his chest, still dressed in her white wedding gown, which rippled and moved around her like clouds or steam or…

"Now hold still, Rod," she breathed, and he found his arms being wrenched above his head, a rope wrapping around his wrists and binding them firmly to the bedposts. He struggled a bit, more out of reflex than anything, and he looked up rather warily at her. It was uncanny to be tied up like this, and for Bellatrix, who Rodolphus was not entirely sure he considered_sane…_

"Bellatrix, what are you…?"

"Your life must be dreadfully boring," Bellatrix murmured, ignoring his question and focussing instead on dragging her nails slowly down the side of his torso, "if you've never done anything like this before…"

"_Some_of us kept the promise we made to our parents to be pure when we were married…"

Her eyebrows shot up and she looked at him, seeming genuinely perplexed by his statement. "You're a _virgin_, Rod?"

He flushed. "Yes. _Like we're supposed to–_"

"Oh, you have _so_much to learn," she interrupted, laughing. She shifted down, kneeling between his legs and spreading them apart a bit. He pulled on the ropes again and she ignored it. She put her hand lightly on the bulge in his trousers, biting her lip and lowering her eyelids slightly.

"It's going to be… _dreadfully_fun…" Her voice was low, velvety and sensual, and her hand sent tingles up Rodolphus's spine. "Don't worry. I'm a good teacher."

Having someone else touch him, and with such a skilled and practiced hand…

She flicked the buttons of his trousers undone with a light and careful touch that made Rodolphus wonder if she'd done this before and if so, how many times, then she pulled them down slowly, and Rodolphus groaned. He wished that she'd undo the ropes so that he could touch her, but he supposed she knew more than him, and there was something wonderfully erotic about being bound up, almost at her mercy – being at someone's mercy was not something that Rodolphus was used to.

Bellatrix purred softly, wrapping her hand around his cock and pulling slowly on it, one long stroke, from base to tip, then sliding her hand off and holding it to Rodolphus's face. "Lick."

"Why?"

"For God's sake…" He could see her lip curling. "What do you think? Don't you spit on your hand when you jerk yourself off?"

"That's crude–"

"I would have thought you'd know by now that being told something is _crude_is hardly enough to stop me from wanting it."

Rodolphus flushed. His breath came quickly and stuck out his tongue, slowly swiping it over the surface of her palm. Her skin tasted salty, a little sweaty, and he wondered how much of that was her taste and how much was his.

She nodded, satisfied, then moved her hand back down, stroking his cock again, taking her time with each slow and thoughtful movement. Rodolphus's chest heaved and he lay back, enjoying the feeling.

Enjoying it, at the very least, until her hand drew back and came down sharply on his balls.

"_Ouch!_" His whole body buckled and he bent in on himself automatically, and Bellatrix laughed. She sounded a touch mad, almost hysterical.

"You're not so strong, are you now, Rod?" she asked, her voice high and mocking, and Rodolphus squirmed, pulling on his bonds again. He wanted to curl in on himself to nurse the injury.

"Shh…" Her hand wrapped around his cock again and she stroked it slowly, apparently enjoying the look on his face – a look of some fear, he would imagine, because all he could think was that he wasn't sure he wanted her close to his balls after how she had hit him. "It wasn't that bad, Rod, now was it?"

"Yes, it was," he said, softly, petulantly.

"Men…" Her lip curled. "You like to fancy yourselves strong, don't you, but you're really a bit pathetic if you can be… so easily… mm…" She broke off and Rodolphus steeled himself as she raised her hand again. There was a moment of painful tension, then she lowered her hand again, giggling a bit. She sounded rather girlish, quite innocent, not at all how she _should_have been sounding.

"It _hurt_," he complained.

"Poor thing…" Her eyelashes fluttered and then she leaned down, her lips hovering inches from the tip of his cock. "Do you want me to make it better for you?"

A muscle twitched in his jaw and he didn't respond, which Bellatrix seemed to take for some sort of assent, because she leaned down and flicked her tongue against the tip of his cock. Rodolphus moaned softly, anticipating the feeling of her mouth sliding down his length, but it didn't come.

"I need you to say _yes_ or _no_, Rodolphus," she told him, her breath warm on his flesh, tickling him. "I won't do it if you don't say _yes_. If you don't want me to–"

"_Yes!_" Rodolphus said loudly, cutting her off.

"Yes?"

"Yes!"

Bellatrix's lips curled, then she leaned down, taking first the head of his cock between her lips, sucking on it like a candy, and then sliding down until her mouth was full of his flesh.

"_Bella…_"

"Mmm-hmm?" She looked up at him through her eyelashes, sucking deeply and wrapping her hand around the base.

"That- feels good…" was all he could manage.

Her teeth brushed against the sensitive skin, and Rodolphus felt a small frisson of fear, accompanied by a wave of pleasure. He should have felt powerful, with her servicing him like that, but he was all too well aware that she had him at her mercy and that one little movement of her jaw would be enough to put him in tears.

She pulled back, swirling her tongue around the tip of his cock, then she wiped her mouth delicately, and reached behind herself to undo the laces of her dress.

"Let me help…" Rodolphus told her, and she shook her head.

"I don't need your help," she said, and then the dress was off, and Rodolphus's eyes gleamed. Beneath the layers upon layers of pure white silk and lace, he had been expecting modest, pale underclothes to match.

On the contrary.

"You like what you see, Rodolphus?" Bellatrix purred, reaching up and gently cupping her own breast.

He wasn't even entirely sure that her underclothes could be counted as such – her bra was sheer black lace and showed off her hard nipples and her knickers were skimpy and small enough that he missed them at first. His mouth had gone quite dry and all he could do was nod.

"Good," Bellatrix purred, and she crawled slowly along the bed until she was kneeling over his chest. If it hadn't been for those _damned_ropes, he would have grabbed her instantly, pinned her down and fucked her until she was weak…

"You're having… _thoughts of dominance_," she told him in a quiet purr. "I can see it in your eyes… don't even try it, darling." She shifted a little closer, and he could smell her juices. They were on her thighs, making them slick and wet, and he would have dearly loved to be able to taste them…

"_Mm!_"

Barely had the though of how much he would have loved to lick Bellatrix entered his mind when she moved forward abruptly and sat down on his face, her wet core pressing against his mouth.

"Come on," she moaned, bucking slightly against him. "I did it for you…" She pulled her knickers aside and Rodolphus groaned automatically. Liquid dripped onto mouth and he flicked his tongue out, tasting it. Sweet, tart, bitter, salty…

"God, yes…"

Bellatrix bounced slightly against his mouth, rocking back and forth and squirming – trying, Rodolphus presumed, to get his tongue into the most pleasurable position against her. He wished that he had had more experience so that he could do better, but Bellatrix didn't seem to mind.

"Oh, _fuck_," she moaned, grinding roughly against him. "Fuck, _yes_…" Rodolphus could feel the muscles in her legs clenching and unclenching and he redoubled his efforts.

"Fuck," Bellatrix breathed again. He was aware of her leaning forward, then felt her arms brush his, presumably as she grabbed onto the bedposts for support. "That feels so good… I- I want your tongue deep inside me… come on, Rod, put it in…"

He hesitated for only a moment before he pressed the tip of his tongue into her opening and Bellatrix screamed, clenching around him, her thighs like a vice on either side of his head, and grinding still more forcefully against his mouth until her whole body arched, she let out a long, almost desperate groan, and Rodolphus felt a flood of warm liquid on his face.

When Bellatrix climbed off of him and wiped her juices from his eyes so that he could see again, her cheeks were flushed and her body shaking.

"Not bad for a virgin," she said breathlessly, and Rodolphus tried not to laugh.

"And about that…" Bellatrix continued. "I suppose you want me to take that… _virginity_ away from you now, don't you? I suppose you'd like to finally have a woman after waiting so _terribly _long…"

"Yes…" he breathed.

"It must be dreadful for a man to have to wait so long for a woman who wants him…" she breathed teasingly, and Rodolphus bit his lip hard. Part of him wanted to snap that he could have had a dozen women if he hadn't wanted to be pure on his wedding night but he didn't want to provoke Bellatrix – not when he was in this state.

She dragged one nail along the length of his cock and he groaned and bucked automatically against her hand.

Then she was on top of him.

Bellatrix was stronger than she looked, and she looked plenty strong. She pinned him down with ease as she sank down onto his cock.

"Bella…" Rodolphus groaned before her hand came down over his mouth, silencing him.

"Don't say a word," Bellatrix breathed. She was rolling her hips slowly, steadily, against his and her voice was thick with lust. "Not until you're about to come… and you'd _better_ask my permission before you do…"

Rodolphus nodded and squeezed his eyes shut, gasping for breath. He clenched his hands into fists and dug his short, blunt nails into his palms. The little jolts of pain steadied him a bit, and he was able to look up at Bellatrix without worrying that the sight of her would push him to the edge.

She was looking down at him with a delicious little smirk playing on her lips as she rode him, sliding along the length of his cock and gasping with each stroke. She hadn't bothered removing her bra and her breasts bounced enticingly.

Every muscle in Rodolphus's body clenched and he barely managed to gasp "I–"

Bellatrix's hand came down sharply on his balls again, but the pain wasn't enough to stop Rodolphus's body from arching up against her and a moan from escaping his lips. He felt himself spill inside Bellatrix and her groan. Her voice sounded very far away.

"Not bad…" she purred, sliding off him. Rodolphus trembled, unable to speak, and Bellatrix laughed breathlessly.

"Not bad for a virgin," she added, leaning forward and petting his hair slowly with one hand, pulling the ropes off his wrists with the other. "Most boys are useless their first time…"

"And I wasn't?" Rodolphus managed, letting his arms fall onto the bed on either side of him, stretched out as if he was on a crucifix.

Bellatrix laughed and leaned forward. She kissed his mouth and caught his lower lip between his teeth, biting down lightly upon it before she pulled back.

"Not _entirely_useless," she said, then she lay down beside him and her eyes were closed before he could say another word.

Rodolphus, for his part, thought that he couldn't have possibly imagined any better way to start a marriage.

If he had been a more cynical man, he would have assumed that the things Bellatrix did to him were reserved for their honeymoon and that when they got home, sex would stop being interesting to them, just as had been the case for every couple Rodolphus had ever known. He would have assumed that having such a wonderful honeymoon had only been the world's way of tormenting him.

If he had made that assumption, he would have been wrong.

He did wish that they could continue to have as much to enjoy with each other as they had had on their honeymoon, but Bellatrix was more than willing to lend hours every night to lovemaking, and that was enough that he certainly couldn't complain.


	2. Chapter 2

Rodolphus stared at his wife longingly as she tucked her long, curly hair up in preparation for one of the innumerable parties that it felt like they were _always _attending. He would have given anything for her to take him to bed right then, would willingly have begged for it – not that that would have been difficult for him; he had begged for Bellatrix plenty of times before – but she didn't even look at him, focussing instead on the mirror and her careful evaluation of her appearance.

"Are you sure that it's _completely _necessary that we attend the party?" he asked tentatively.

"Haven't I told you enough times?" Bellatrix asked. Her voice was cool and a bit impatient, but with a soft, sensual undertone that Rodolphus recognized as meaning that she wasn't really irritated with him. "Yes, it's completely necessary… and I don't know why you're complaining," she added, "when I've promised to make it up to you…" She turned towards him, her eyes gleaming wickedly. "Isn't knowing that I'll be doing something _special _for you later good enough for you?"

He didn't respond, and Bellatrix laughed quietly. "I suppose you'd like a little… taste of what you'll get… before we go?"

"Yes, Bella…" he murmured, his breath catching.

She reached out slowly, her fingers skating over the fastenings of his robes. "You're a dreadful slut sometimes, you know, Rodolphus," she said sweetly.

"Only for you."

Bellatrix laughed, pulling her hand back. "That's right. And if I were a nice woman, I'd give you something just for saying that… but since I'm not a nice woman…" She turned back to the mirror and allowed her dress to slip from her shoulder, the silk whispering against her skin and showing, just for a moment, a sliver of creamy flesh and the strap of her bra. It was all Rodolphus could do not to grab her and take her right then and there, the party be damned, but he restrained himself and looked away.

"Come on," Bellatrix said, turning back to him and taking his arm. "Let's go…"

"Let's," he agreed, and the only thought in his mind was _the sooner we leave, the sooner we can go home… and the sooner we can get home…_

"And don't stare at me too much during the party, darling," Bellatrix purred, interrupting his thoughts. "It's rude."

)O(

"Cissy's parties are always dreadfully boring," Bellatrix murmured in his ear as they sat at the long, oak table that graced the dining room of Malfoy Manor. Narcissa and Lucius were at the head, and Bellatrix and Rodolphus a few seats down from them. Rodolphus was trying very hard to pay attention to the conversation – a discussion of politics, which so often seemed to be what all dinner conversations turned to – but it was a touch difficult with Bellatrix's leg brushing his.

He glanced at her and she smirked a little, running the tip of her tongue around her lips and leaning closer to him. Her hand curled around his wrist beneath the table, the tip of her thumbnail scratching over sensitive skin, drawing small spirals on his flesh. Rodolphus took in a sharp, hissing breath between his teeth.

"We should make the party… more interesting…" she purred.

Rodolphus dropped his gaze to the table and did not look back at her. He stared resolutely at the plate in front of him, taking deep, slow breaths and letting them out between gritted teeth. If he could – if he had dared, and there were _oh_so many reasons why he didn't – he would have thrown Bellatrix down on the table, pushed all of Cissy's pretty silverware and those crystal goblets she was so proud of aside and fucked Bellatrix there, in front of them all, listening to their scandalized gasps – let them gasp, let them be shocked that there existed a couple who could please each other…

"Is someone getting excited?" Bellatrix breathed. Her breath tickled the side of his neck, and she reached down slowly to put her hand on his thigh. Her nails dug lightly into his skin through his robes and he had to bite down on his tongue to stop himself from moaning.

"I know what sorts of thoughts you're having, Rod," she breathed. "And I hope your little fantasy is pleasing you…" Her hand moved slightly and her palm brushed against his cock. She smirked. "Oh… it is."

"Is something wrong, Bella? Rodolphus?" Narcissa asked rather sharply, looking down the table at her sister. "You know, I'm sure that whatever you're talking about there is much more interesting and important than what the _rest_of us are discussing – why don't you tell us?"

"There's no need to be so sharp, Cissy," Bellatrix said, not missing a beat nor revealing in her tone that her hand was resting on her husband's cock. "I wasn't aware that our attention was important to your discussion, but if it is, then of course we'll be quiet… won't we, Rodolphus?"

He managed a stiff nod, every muscle in his body clenching against the urge to thrust against his wife's hand, to moan in pleasure, to…

Bellatrix was looking at Narcissa now, her eyes wide and innocent and her brows drawn together slightly in a contemplative way, but while one hand was resting lightly on the table and her fingers tapping against the edge of her dinner plate, the other hand was down between Rodolphus's legs still, working his erection lightly between her fingers.

The things she _did _to him…

"Bella," he hissed, trying to keep his expression smooth and hoping that no one would notice the flush rising on his face. Bellatrix did not respond, save for a small twitch of the corner of her lips, just enough to indicate that she had heard him and that his response pleased her.

Rodolphus tried to look at Narcissa as well, tried to listen to the conversation, but it was quite impossible. Bellatrix's hand felt incredible – _better than incredible_– on his cock, and it was enough to make him dizzy.

Suddenly, Bellatrix spoke up, interrupting the conversation. "Cissy, I wonder if you would excuse Rodolphus and I for just a moment?"

"Pardon?" Narcissa looked abruptly at her older sister, a wary glare that seemed to Rodolphus to indicate _very_clearly that she knew what Bellatrix was thinking of. "What for?"

"There's just something… we need to take care of." Bellatrix didn't look fazed in the slightest, nor did she even glance at Rodolphus, despite her fingers still sliding over the length of his shaft beneath his trousers. "We'll only be a moment."

Narcissa opened her mouth to protest, but Lucius shot her a sharp glance and she closed it and nodded. "Go on, then."

Bellatrix's lips twitched and she stood up swiftly, turning and heading for the door. Rodolphus briefly considered staying behind just to spite her, just to see what she would do, but the insistent throb all through his lower body put that thought from his mind quickly. He followed her, taking care to arrange his robes so that the bulge in his trousers wouldn't be visible.

As soon as he was out of the dining room and the door shut, Bellatrix was on top of him, her hands knotting in his hair and pulling his head back.

"Enjoying that, weren't you?" she breathed. Her breast was heaving against the tight constraints of her bodice and her eyes sparkled wildly.

"We shouldn't be doing–"

"Don't tell me what we should and shouldn't be doing." Bellatrix raised one hand threateningly, as though about to slap him, and Rodolphus cringed back, his breath speeding. He wanted to grab at her, wanted to tear at her clothes – but no, of course he couldn't do that.

She wouldn't have had it.

"Sorry," he breathed, and her eyes glinted.

"You know how I love it when you… _apologize to me…_" She slid one hand slowly down his torso, slipping it beneath the folds of his robes and stroking his cock again. Rodolphus was aware of a small patch of dampness on his trousers, and he moaned.

"You're pretty when you're like this," Bellatrix murmured. "When you're… desperate…"

"I'm not desperate," Rodolphus told her, but if his expression, his posture and the way that he was thrusting against her hand hadn't given him away, the moan that his words trailed off into when she flicked the buckle of his belt undone would have been.

"Nonsense," she told him as she slid her hand down into his trousers, and he could not have protested if he had wanted to. His body melted against hers, he clutched her shoulders for support and moaned, and she purred quietly as she worked her hand up and down his shaft.

"They'll hear you in the dining room," she breathed. "I don't suppose that bothers you… everyone in there hearing you moaning for it like a _slut_…"

"Bella…"

"I imagine you rather like it, in fact, don't you?" Her nails dragged down the underside and he jumped, gasping sharply. "I expect that you're _very _fond of them knowing…" Her voice trailed off into a high, breathy laugh. "Aren't you? Say it…"

"I like- them knowing- what you can do to me," he managed to whisper. He was trembling, barely able to stand, and Bellatrix laughed.

"I knew you'd say that," she whispered, then her hand wrapped tightly around his cock and he almost collapsed as she pulled on it, jerking her hand back and forth along the length until he was on the brink of his orgasm.

"_Bella…_" he groaned, and then her hand was gone and she stepped backwards. Rodolphus trembled, aware of a small, unsatisfying trickle of seed oozing from the head of his cock. Bellatrix pressed her fingers against his lips. He tasted his pre-come on her skin. His whole body curved in on itself and he couldn't help letting out a dry, pained sob.

"Aww…" Bellatrix smirked, lowering her hand and brushing it against her skirt to clean it. "Is something wrong?"

"Hurts–" His cock was throbbing and his body shaking desperately. He needed her desperately and he could tell from the way that she was smirking at him that she _knew_ just _exactly _how much he needed her.

And that she loved it.

Rodolphus lunged for her, trying to grab her, and she skipped back, giggling girlishly. "Ah, ah, ah… No, you don't, darling…"

"_Bellatrix…_"

"Go back into the dining room. They'll be missing us." She pointed at the doorway, one eyebrow arching very slightly as though she was daring him to disobey her, and Rodolphus, still breathless and shaking, barely managed to do up his trousers and stumble inside. From behind him, he could hear Bellatrix still laughing quietly.

He was aware of Narcissa and Lucius – and their other guests – staring at him with what he assumed was a combination of amusement and shock, for _surely _they had heard him and Bellatrix, and hoped he did not look as flushed or pained as he felt. Bellatrix's footsteps were audible behind him, and when he sank back into his seat, he was aware of her letting out a soft, breathy laugh between her teeth.

"Bitch," he hissed when she was seated beside him at the table again.

"You love me for it," she murmured back, so sweetly, and he could not argue with that.


	3. Chapter 3

Bellatrix and Rodolphus were lying in bed after the party, and, more importantly, after Bellatrix had fulfilled her promise to reward him for going. Rodolphus was completely spent and aching all over. Bellatrix was lying on top of him and toying lightly with his hair, occasionally pulling on it to make him jump and more often twisting it idly around and around her fingers. They were curled together in comfortable silence and Rodolphus was just starting to doze off when Bellatrix suddenly spoke up.

"Rodolphus," she said meditatively, "tell me what you know about the Dark Lord."

The question was abrupt and quite unexpected. Rodolphus looked at his wife with some confusion. "The Dark Lord? What do _you _know about the Dark Lord?"

"They were discussing him at dinner – of course, _you_weren't paying attention…" There was a light, teasing, slightly scornful note in her voice that Rodolphus recognized. "Too busy thinking about how you wanted to fuck me on the table. Men can't ever get sex off their minds, can they?"

Rodolphus didn't even bother trying say that that wasn't true. It would have been a lie if he had.

"So tell me what you know about him."

"I don't know much," Rodolphus said, trying to brush off the question casually. Bellatrix rarely asked such questions of him and he could not help worrying about why she would suddenly form an interest in the Dark Lord. "It's all politics, what he does, and you know that I don't like politics…"

"I know."

"But…" He paused, then shook his head. "No, I don't know much about him at all. You'll have to find out for yourself. Maybe ask Lucius – he's got all those connections at the Ministry, he'll probably know plenty."

"Mm…" Bellatrix didn't say anything to that and she turned over so she was facing away from Rodolphus. Something deep inside his stomach churned nervously, but he disregarded it. Bellatrix _would _get all interested in political matters; why did that surprise him? She'd always had a fondness for intrigue…

He turned over as well, closed his eyes and thought no more of the matter.

Or, rather, he attempted to think no more of the matter, but it was difficult. He slept more fitfully than he had in some time and several times in the night, he woke up and could not fall asleep for wondering why Bellatrix – whose interest in politics had always been slight – had suddenly asked him about the Dark Lord.

She did not speak of him again, but – though perhaps it was his imagination – Rodolphus thought that Bellatrix was more distant after that. She was _certainly _spending less time at home with him.

"Where have you been?" Rodolphus demanded when Bellatrix slunk inside, long after dark one evening. There had been no note from her, no word that she was going to be going out, and if he hadn't been so sure that his wife could take care of herself, he would have been terrified. As it was, he was just irritable that she hadn't thought to tell him where she was going.

"Nowhere," Bellatrix said. Her face was flushed and her hair dishevelled, and she all but leapt on Rodolphus when she saw him, pushing him against the wall. Her fingers scrabbled at the buttons of his shirt. "But I've missed you…"

"_Bellatrix!_" Rodolphus couldn't remember _ever _being less eager for sex than he was at that moment.

"_What_?" She looked at him with her eyelids lowered and a smirk on her lips. He could practically feel how desperate she was for him, and though he should have been pleased, he could only feel irritation with her behaviour.

"I want to know where you've been."

Bellatrix frowned, pulling back a little and pushing her hair back. "Why?"

"Just tell me!"

She took a deep breath and let it out as an exasperated sigh. "You are _impossible_, Rodolphus. All right, if you must know, I had an audience with the Dark Lord."

Rodolphus's heart skipped a beat. He swallowed hard, trying to keep his tone steady and even. "Did you? What for?"

"Didn't I make it clear enough to you that I was interested in him?" Bellatrix asked, shrugging slightly. "I thought it would be wise to find out some more about him… the newspapers seem to think that he's gaining rather a lot of power, and I'd like to be on his side of there's some sort of… _skirmish _with the Ministry." She glared at him sternly. "I suppose that answers your questions satisfactorily."

"Well… f- fair… enough…" he stammered. "I just- wondered…"

"Shut up, Rodolphus," she told him, apparently losing all interest in what he had to say. "Forget where I was. It's not important. What is important…" She took his hand and pressed it firmly between her legs, and he felt wetness there. "What is important is that I'm in something of a- something of a state… and I could do with your help."

Rodolphus nodded obligingly, getting down on his knees and lifting Bellatrix's skirts for her. He leaned in to lick, pleasure welling in his stomach when he heard his wife moan, and tried to block out thoughts of why _exactly _she would want to see the Dark Lord.

He also tried to block out thoughts about why seeing the Dark Lord would have left her in such a state.

)O(

Weeks passed, and though there were several occasions on which Bellatrix seemed to see fit to stay out all night and come home insisting that she had been discussing politics with the Dark Lord, Rodolphus managed to avoid thinking about it. He was willing to believe – if only for the sake of his own mental state – that everything had been quite innocent.

He did take to reading articles about the Dark Lord – _just so he'd have something to discuss with Bellatrix should the subject come up_ – and more than once, he had managed to convince Bellatrix to take him along with her. The Dark Lord, in general, struck him as just a _touch _too charismatic and attractive for him to be entirely willing to let his wife spend nights with, and the way she all but fawned over him did not help, but Rodolphus said nothing on the matter. After all, Bellatrix loved him every bit as much as he adored her, and she would surely not have an affair. It was nothing more than stupidity and suspicion for him to believe that she would.

That was, at least, what he told himself for as long as he could.

"Rodolphus?" Bellatrix murmured in a low, sensual voice, breathing in his ear. She pressed herself against him, her breasts to his back and her arms snaking around his waist. "Would you do something for me?"

"You know that I would, Bella…" Rodolphus turned a little in her arms to face her, a smile creeping across his lips. "I'd do anything for you… you know that."

"Good." Bellatrix caught his earlobe between her teeth, biting down on it lightly and making him jump. "Good…"

"What do you want me to do?"

She lifted her head, looking him in the eye, and Rodolphus thought that he had never seen his wife looking so serious or so… so _nervous_, really. She looked almost wary, as though she thought that he would not accept.

_Madness. He _could_ refuse her, but he never had. He never had any intention to._

"Role play, Rodolphus…" she said tentatively.

"Of course," he said immediately. "Just tell me who to be…"

He had been expecting some odd scenario – it would not have been unusual for them, not unusual for her to cook up some detailed and dramatic role play for the two of them to act out. They often started out sounding silly but, by the time they were properly immersed in whatever scenario she had created, it was so erotic that it left Rodolphus breathless.

"The Dark Lord," she told him.

Rodolphus froze instantly. He stared at her, taken aback.

"P- pardon me?"

"The Dark Lord." Bellatrix's eyes were shining brightly and she looked almost feverish as she leaned close to her husband. "You can do that, can't you, Rod?"

"Well, I don't- I mean, I can, I suppose… but…" He tried to speak but his voice gave out and trailed off and he looked at his wife with confusion. She looked far too eager for this, far less than she usually did for any sort of new activity.

"But what?"

"But…" It was so difficult to put into words what he was feeling, what he was thinking. "Well- Bella, if I may ask… if I may ask something before we start…"

"Yes, of course you can. You can always ask, you know that."

"_Why_?"

Rodolphus had had every intention of phrasing it more tactfully, asking Bellatrix something more along the lines of 'what is it about this that you want?', which was a question they often used when discussing anything _new_ that either of them wanted to try. But the blunt, simple _why _had slipped out before Rodolphus could stop it.

"Why what?" She looked confused. "Why can you always ask?"

"No- why do you want this?"

Bellatrix frowned. "Is there a problem?"

"Well, it's just…" He searched for words for a moment, then said as slowly and tactfully as he could manage, "I… don't know how I feel… about you thinking about a – a _specific_– other man during sex…"

"Jealous?" Bellatrix asked. She arched an eyebrow and Rodolphus bristled.

"No! Of course I'm not!"

"Because it sounds _terribly _as though you are…" She swung a leg gracefully over his waist so she was straddling his torso and pressed down on him, narrowing her eyes into sharp little slits. "And why would that be, Rodolphus? It's not as though I'm actually going to bed with him. I'm still with you, and you _know…_" Her voice turned soft and sultry so quickly that Rodolphus took a moment to register the change. "You _know_ that you still arouse me… that it isn't that you're _not enough _for me…"

She stroked his chest, her long fingernails dragging lightly over the ridges of muscle and the scars – some given by her – that decorated his torso. Rodolphus's back arched very slightly at her familiar caress.

"Just try it?" she purred. "If you don't like it, you know you can stop… we can _always _stop, whenever you want…"

"I know."

"All right, then." Bellatrix had hesitated for a moment, but now she was all business again, slipping out of bed and pulling on her dress from where she had flung it over the back of a chair before she shoved Rodolphus's robes at him. "Get dressed. Make yourself look presentable."

He dressed slowly, keeping his eyes on her, and for the first time, Rodolphus saw what he was _sure_was a girlish blush on her cheeks, and she ducked her head, looking at him through her lashes.

"My Lord…" she breathed.

"I- I don't know what to do…" Rodolphus stammered. He had read about the Dark Lord but he didn't know him personally – how was he to even _guess _what he would be like in bed?

"Just play along!" Bellatrix snapped, then she stepped towards him, softening her expression into a small, slightly seductive pout. "My Lord, I wish to do something to serve you…"

Rodolphus swallowed. He had become so used to letting Bellatrix set the pace, so used to remaining silent except for answering her breathless questions and occasionally moaning _yes_, that he was quite unsure how to behave.

"Wh- what do you wish to do?" he asked, trying to keep a tremble out of his voice. He was _quite _sure that the Dark Lord would not stammer.

"Higher."

"What?"

"Speak with a higher pitch," Bellatrix told him impatiently. "The Dark Lord has such a lovely, high-pitched voice…"

Rodolphus cleared his throat, then tried again, straining to raise his voice a few notes higher than usual. "What do you wish to do to serve me, Bellatrix?"

The tiniest of moans escaped from Bellatrix's lips. "I- I want to please you, my Lord… I so want to please you…"

"And how do you think you can please me?" Rodolphus tried to sound uninterested, uncaring, for surely that was how a man of the stature of the Dark Lord would talk to a woman like Bellatrix, whose cheeks were flushed quite red from arousal.

"I… I think I can do things to- to satisfy your desires…" she murmured, the tip of her tongue tracing her lips. "My Lord, I _know_ that I can do things for you… I'd willingly do _anything _for you…"

"Would you?" _That _was not something that Rodolphus was used to hearing his wife say. It was usually he who insisted that he would do anything for her and she who insisted that he prove it. This was the first time that the situation had ever been reversed and Rodolphus would have been lying if he said that he didn't rather enjoy having power over his wife for once.

"Yes… anything…" She sank to her knees before him, her hands moving up slowly and hovering inches from his crotch. "Anything you want of me, my Lord… whatever you want of me, I shall do it…"

That was _extremely _erotic.

Bellatrix's eyelids were lowered, her lips were parted slightly as though she was already waiting to take him in her mouth, and her breast was heaving deliciously with every breath she took.

"Please, my Lord, let me…" she moaned, and Rodolphus nodded.

He didn't think he had ever seen her look so thrilled – her eyes were wide with excitement as she pulled open the fastenings of his robes and took his cock in her hand.

"Oh, _my Lord…_"

It would have been far better if she had called him _Rodolphus_, of course…

Rodolphus tangled his fingers in her hair, not saying a word as she opened her mouth and took the tip of his cock between her lips, sucking for a moment before sinking down on it until it hit the back of her throat. Rodolphus stifled a grunt and Bellatrix's whole body arched. She looked as though she was getting every bit as much pleasure from sucking him as she would have if he had been the one pleasuring her…

He tightened his grip on her hair and held her head still while he thrust into her mouth. She gagged and her throat constricted around him, giving him cause to moan again before he pulled back and yanked her to her feet. Bellatrix's eyes glittered and she let out a small purr.

"Rough…" she breathed, giving a tiny nod that he could only assume indicated approval. Good. Good that she approved, because Rodolphus was certainly enjoying tossing his wife around a little.

He threw her down onto the bed and advanced on her, shedding his robes. Bellatrix spread her legs willingly, watching him with glittering eyes.

"I want you so _very _much, my Lord," she whispered and Rodolphus silenced her with a swift, firm slap to the face.

"Don't say anything," he told her. "Not unless I give you leave, do you understand me?"

"Yes, my Lord!" Bellatrix panted. A fresh moan escaped her lips as Rodolphus held her down and she bit down on her lips so hard that blood trickled from them when he thrust into her.

It was satisfying, very satisfying in a terribly strange way to weaken Bellatrix. It didn't matter that he knew full well that she was the one who was really in control – it was just so _pleasurable_ to, for once, make _her_ bleed, make _her _tremble and moan for him, instead of letting her do it to him. It was almost cathartic, and certainly a welcome change of pace.

Bellatrix's eyes were squeezed tightly shut. Rodolphus briefly considered ordering her to look him in the eye – but no, she wouldn't do it, and who was he to deprive her of her fantasy? If she wanted to keep her eyes shut and think of the Dark Lord…

Her back arched and a gasp escaped her lips when he thrust into her. Rodolphus had her pinned to the bed by her arms, yet her whole body lifted off the mattress as she forced herself closer to him, still with her eyes closed. Her cheeks flushed pink and sweat beaded on her forehead and he couldn't recall her ever reacting so quickly and so obviously to him before.

Was it because she enjoyed submission more than she had let on before?

He hoped that that was the reason and not that she far preferred the idea of making love to the Dark Lord than to him.

"Take me harder, my Lord," Bellatrix moaned, clutching the sheets between her sweaty fingers, digging her nails in.

"Don't give orders." Rodolphus grabbed her hair and pulled it back, mentally willing her to open her eyes.

She didn't, only let out a sound somewhere between a gasp and a strangled sob. "Yes, my Lord…"

The longer it went on – the longer Rodolphus spent holding her down and pulling her hair and fucking her roughly, for he didn't dare to do anything more – the more bored he became with it. Bellatrix was being too compliant, too quiet and willing and unlike the woman he was used to. He was so used to her being the one who gave orders and made _him_ do what _she_ wanted that this reversal of roles was so _strange _that he could take no pleasure from it. He continued only for Bellatrix's sake, and was profoundly relieved when she reached her climax. Her back arched, her legs jerked up automatically as though driven by an urge to wrap around him that she was only barely able to suppress, and a tense moan escaped her lips.

Rodolphus softened inside her. He couldn't reach a climax – not like this, knowing that his wife hadn't looked at him and had only taken pleasure in being handled so roughly. Bellatrix seemed not to notice or care about him, for she lay trembling on the bed for a long moment before she opened her eyes slowly. They were glassy, glazed over and she stared into space for a time before she blinked twice, then sat up and looked at Rodolphus at last.

"Thank you," she said, cordially, politely, as though he had poured her a cup of tea instead of all but _encouraging _her to fantasize about another man.

"Was that… all right?" he asked.

"It was excellent…" She rose up and draped her arms around him, pressing kisses to his neck. "I love you, Rod…"

"Do you?"

Bellatrix pulled back slightly, frowning. "Of course I do. Really, Rodolphus, you _know _that I do. I'm so happy that I married you–"

"Because if you had married anyone else, he might not have liked having you think about another man while he made love to you?" Rodolphus was aware of a petulant note in his voice and Bellatrix frowned at him.

"You could have stopped if it had bothered you that much."

He snorted. "Could I have? I didn't think you would have approved–"

"Dear _God_, Rodolphus, you _know _that if you ever don't want to do something, all you have to do is say–"

"This is different," he said shortly. "It's not like having you go too far and hurt me by mistake – it's just… I didn't…"

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "Eloquent as _always_, Rodolphus," she said derisively. "When you decide why it bothered you and why you couldn't bring yourself to tell me that you wanted to stop, then talk to me." She sank back onto the bed and turned away from him and he could see her clenching her fists, digging her nails into her palms.

"What is it that you like so much about the Dark Lord?" he demanded. There was a part of him that was positively _screaming_ for him to keep his mouth shut, but he found himself unable to listen to it. "You've only met him once – haven't you?" And then a new panic took him over. "_Haven't you_?"

Bellatrix sat up and looked at Rodolphus with wild-eyed anger. "What are you saying?"

"Are you having an affair with him?" he hissed. His heart was beating quickly against his rib cage and sweat beading on his forehead and he could scarcely believe that he was asking this of his wife, but now that the thought had occurred to him, it would not go away. It was bad enough for her to be fantasizing after him, lusting after him, but it was a thousand times worse to think that she might _actually_be sleeping with him. The very idea made Rodolphus feel sick.

Bellatrix sprung up, and her hand wrapped around Rodolphus's neck, squeezing down on it.

"How _dare you!_" she hissed. "How _dare you_accuse me of that! After all this time, you think I'm unfaithful? Do you think I'm a whore, Rodolphus, is that what you think of me?"

"No!" he cried, batting at her hands and backing away automatically, horrified by his wife's anger. "Of course I don't think that you're a whore! I would _never _think that about you–"

"Then _how_," she hissed, "how can you _possibly think_to accuse me of adultery?"

"I wasn't–"

"Don't give me that, Rodolphus, you _asked_ if I was having an affair! It's a bit late now for you to say…" She put on a mocking imitation of his voice, "_oh no, I wasn't accusing you of adultery_."

Rodolphus said nothing. There was nothing that he _could_say that wouldn't infuriate his wife and he couldn't stand the thought of a fight with her going on any longer than it absolutely needed to. Bellatrix glared at him a moment longer, then sank onto the bed.

"I'm going to sleep," she told him, and her voice was cold and sharp. "I'm not going to go on listening to my _pathetic excuse for a husband _whine about me having fantasies about another man–"

"I don't think it's unreasonable–"

"Shut your mouth," she told him icily, then lay down and turned her back on him.

Rodolphus hesitated before lying down beside her. There was a part of him that didn't want to be in bed with his wife, not after all of that. He wanted to go sleep in another room, or even another house, or not sleep at all. He could feel Bellatrix's anger and derision practically radiating off of her and he edged to the far side of the bed and turned away.

Perhaps he had overreacted. Perhaps she really _had_just wanted to try something different and perhaps bringing up the Dark Lord had simply been her way of suggesting that she take on a submissive role for once. If that was the case, then perhaps she was right to be angry at him for his assumption.

But he couldn't quite believe that.

He didn't fancy himself particularly skilled at reading people, but he was _sure_ that the way in which Bellatrix had acted indicated more interest in a different man than a different position. If she had just wanted to be submissive, she could have told him. And surely she would have kept her eyes open or at least opened them _rather more often_, so that she could take pleasure in seeing him over her…

But he didn't want to accuse her of adultery.

He didn't want to do anything that might drive her away from him. He was so _happy_ with her – or, he had been until tonight – and it would break his heart if she really was having an affair, or if she left him because she didn't like being accused of it. He couldn't imagine what his life would be without her – she had become so inexorably linked to his ideas of sex and love and _adulthood_, even, that he didn't know what he would do if he didn't have her anymore.

"Bella?" he whispered.

She turned over and glared at him. "_What_?"

"I love you."

If there had been words he knew that would properly express what he felt for his wife – because it was a great deal more than love, a combination of desire and love and obsession and awe and other feelings that were beyond his ability to fully comprehend – he would have used them.

But he didn't.

He just looked at Bellatrix desperately and waited for her expression to soften.

It didn't.

"I love you too, Rod," she said, but the words were short and clipped and she didn't sound at all as though she felt anything but distaste for him.

"Really?"

"With all my heart."

But instead of doing what Rodolphus _wanted_her to do, instead of putting her arms around him and curling against him and going to sleep in his arms, she turned her back again and Rodolphus could only lie awake for the rest of the night and wonder which of them was more to blame.

)O(

_Fin_


End file.
